E-cigarettes, shisha to be illegal from Feb 1 under amended Tobacco Act

SINGAPORE: Starting Feb 1, buying, using and possessing tobacco products like e-cigarettes, shisha and chewing tobacco will be illegal, the Ministry of Health said on Friday (Jan 26).

The new prohibitions on such "emerging and imitation" tobacco products are part of the first phase of amendments to the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act, which were passed in Parliament in November last year.

Under the changes, anyone found in possession of, purchasing or using the prohibited products will face a fine of up to S$2,000. Currently, only those caught importing, selling or distributing prohibited products are punished.

"(Members of) the public are encouraged to discard any prohibited tobacco products that they currently have in possession," the ministry said.​​​​​​​

You can be caned for many offenses, but possessing/chewing gum is not one of them. But if you spit the gum out on the sidewalk or stuck it under a table, you could be convicted of vandalism and sentenced to a caning.

Most of the crimes that allow caning as part of the punishment are serious violations of the law.

Judicial Caning is only used on males between ages 18 and 50. It is a legacy of British Colonial Rule.

The Human Rights Watch organization referred to the practice of caning as "an inherently cruel punishment". They did not even note that rape, murder, molestation, assault, arson and drug trafficking are not also cruel punishments of the criminals' victims.